The 10 best zombie games you can play right now

Find the best zombie games without getting brain on your shoes

The best zombie games got some fresh blood recently, thanks to the addition of the Resident Evil 2 remake. It joins a motley cross-genre collection that can provide everything from scares to thrills to intriguing simulations of post-apocalyptic survival. They're all united by one thing: there are zombies, and they're much more than generic cannon fodder. We've ranked the best zombie games from the great at No. 10 to the best at No. 1, so let's get started.

10. Project Zomboid

Available on: PC

If Project Zomboid wasn't still in early access despite first being put up for sale way back in 2011, it would definitely be higher on this list. Zomboid's old-school isometric pixel graphics belie what may be the most ambitious zombie apocalypse simulation ever created. And don't be fooled, this really is meant to be a simulation of what would happen to most folks if people started turning into zombies: they'd die.

There's no evac helicopter coming if you can survive long enough, or any other formal objectives (at least not in the main mode): your death is inevitable and what you do until then is up to you. But if you want to live more than a few days, I'd suggest building yourself a nice little fort and maybe getting a farm going. You can only scavenge for so long before the food - or your luck - runs out. Project Zomboid is great to play alone or in multiplayer now, and I can only imagine how gripping it will be if the developers ever manage to complete their vision.

9. Dead Rising 4

Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One

The sheer number of walking dead shown on-screen in the original Dead Rising blew our minds. Tech improvements make Dead Rising 4's expansive crowds less of a big deal, but it still manages to be one of the best zombie-bashing experiences you can get.

Photojournalist (and protagonist) Frank West is back, packing an impressive arsenal of over-the-top weapons, amongst them a nitrogen-laced machete. It doesn't have the colourful bosses that the original boasted, which is a shame, but the dizzying variety of weapons available make wading through the guts and gore totally worth it.

8. Dying Light: The Following

Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One

Running over zombies was never so much fun. As the DLC for the main game, Dying Light: The Following cuts out most of the parkour from the original and instead puts you behind the steering wheel in a swathe of almost-spotless countryside. Splatter zombies into chunks of gore as you speed across the fields and leave tyre-tracks in their guts as you take on daring jumps. Just be careful you don't get a zombie head trapped in your windscreen wipers.

We don't really have a zombie-driving game around at the moment, and The Following plugs this niche perfectly. There's even a new, evolved (and much more deadly) version of the Volatiles, who are instant death if you encounter one either whilst in your buggy or sneaking around at night. Regardless, you'll have to dodge them as you drive around investigating a cult who seem to be immune to the zombie virus. The responsive steering makes careering down roads a delight, but beware: the more you swerve out of the way of zombies, the bigger the horde following you will get. Not that it's an issue, because as soon as you take your foot off the brake, sit back, and slam that gas pedal, in no time you'll understand why we love The Following.

7. Urban Dead

Available on: PC

Wait, one of the best zombie games you can play right now looks like an Angelfire website that still has a Y2K countdown clock? Yep. Urban Dead is a browser-based zombie MMORPG that has been running since 2005, hosting an endless war between desperate survivors and roving hordes of undead. Don't let the looks fool you - this game runs in real time, there's quite a lot to it, and it is intense.

Every in-game action depletes your pool of stamina (no, there aren't microtransactions that let you buy more), so survivors have to balance traveling, foraging, and barricading to make sure they're always holed up somewhere safe when they tire out. Zombies who run out of stamina far from a horde are just as quick to be cut down. Hopefully Urban Dead's brilliant take on survival and social dynamics in the apocalypse will keep rolling for another few decades to come.

6. Death Road to Canada

Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

With its grindhouse gore, chiptune surf rock, and chunky pixel aesthetics, Death Road to Canada is easily the strangest game on this list. Death Road to Canada uses the classic "I hear it's safe there" premise to kick off a desperate roadtrip from Florida to the land of maple syrup and polite strangers, straight through the overrun rest stops and cities of the United States. Many aspects of your journey are randomly generated, including the characters you start with or later recruit, and each survivor comes with their own stats that influence how well they do at fighting off undead or recruiting dogs to their cause. You know, typical apocalypse stuff.

The random events that unfold on the road and in the top-down, zombie-dodging segments feed into one another; a few good supply runs mean you'll have enough gas and food to choose riskier responses, but getting overconfident in either part of the game could quickly turn deadly. And this is not a game that's afraid to perma-kill your randomly generated darlings. It smarts even more if you use the optional create-a-survivor feature to seed your game world with pixelated versions of your friends and family. No matter who you need to leave behind, you'd better be ready to start up that car and get gone if you want to make it north of the border.